Picking Robots Dynamic Route Planning for Warehouse Efficiency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Efficiently transporting products across a warehouse to fulfill orders is challenging due to the dispersed location of products and the inefficiencies of existing methods like single pick, multi-pick, and zone picking, which lead to wasted travel time and complex collation of products in large warehouses.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing picking robots with drive units, processors, and communication devices that generate and execute picking itineraries based on warehouse information, including location, congestion, and utilization data, to optimize product transport and reduce travel time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If human pickers manually transport products across the warehouse using existing methods (single pick, multi-pick, zone picking), then products can be collected and transported to fulfillment areas, but travel time is excessive and efficiency is reduced due to dispersed product locations and complex collation requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces human mechanical picking systems with autonomous mobile robots equipped with sensors, processors, and navigation systems. These robots autonomously navigate the warehouse, locate products using sensor data, and transport them to fulfillment areas, eliminating the need for human pickers to physically travel between dispersed product locations and significantly reducing travel time while improving order fulfillment efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The robots are equipped with autonomous navigation capabilities, including sensors for detecting product locations, processors for determining optimal routes, and drive systems for self-propelled movement. The system enables robots to independently locate products, navigate to them, collect them, and transport them to fulfillment areas without human intervention, thereby eliminating wasted travel time and improving productivity
2Adaptability or versatility
If products are stored at various dispersed locations throughout the warehouse to accommodate hundreds or thousands of different product types, then storage capacity and product variety are increased, but the complexity of locating and collecting products for orders increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a centralized warehouse management system that serves multiple functions: tracking product locations, generating pick lists, determining optimal robot routes, and monitoring inventory levels. This multi-functional system handles the complexity of dispersed product storage by providing a unified platform that manages all aspects of product location and retrieval, thereby supporting high storage capacity and product variety without increasing operational complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs sensors on robots and throughout the warehouse to continuously detect product locations and update the centralized management system. This feedback mechanism provides real-time information about product positions, enabling the system to dynamically adjust pick lists and robot routes based on current warehouse conditions, thereby managing the complexity of dispersed storage through continuous information flow and adaptive response
Data Source
AI summary
According to one aspect, a system for transporting products that includes at least one picking robot including at least one robot processor, and at least one order-processing device including at least one order-processing processor in data communication with the at least one robot processor. At least one of the order-processing processor and the robot processor is configured to receive at least one order including at least one product to be picked, generate at least one picking itinerary based upon the at least one order and warehouse information, generate at least one travel path for the at least one robot based upon the picking itinerary, and direct the robot along the travel path.